A million British clubbers will dance away the Ibiza summer – and ‘cross-media’ companies are using cellphone text messages to market the fun John Cassy It is 8pm on Saturday and the crowds of revellers are already out in force, ready for an evening of fun in the West End of San Antonio, Ibiza’s notorious party capital.
A group of lads in football shirts and plastic fake breasts stumble down one of the side streets, cans of Tetley’s in hand, searching for the nearest pub. Six teenage girls in tiny skirts and lots of make-up totter behind them giggling. On the beach a more mellow bunch has gathered in front of the Caf del Mar to join in the nightly Ibizan ritual of watching the sun set. The mood is relaxed, the music chilled, the people fashion conscious. As soon as the sun disappears the atmosphere of calm is punctured by a succession of electronic beeping tones. The sounds signal the arrival en masse of a series of text messages on cellphones. They might contain news of which DJs are playing where on the island, a message from an advertiser, like Durex, reminding revellers to take their condoms with them, an offer of cheap flights from budget airline Go or, most importantly, the chance to gain free entry to one of the island’s superclubs.
This is marketing Ibiza 2000 style, aimed directly at the hundreds of thousands of British clubbers who visit the island each summer to “large it”. Up to a million British tourists will travel to the island (which has a permanent population of 80E000) in summer. It is the clubbers, typically aged 16 to 32 and with above-average spending power, whose attention and money the clubs and consumer brands are out to capture. Peter Powell, chair of London-based Worldpop, the cross-media music company behind the text messaging, says: “Dance music is unquestionably the aspirational music genre for young people, and Ibiza is possibly the biggest dance music event in the world. Ibiza is not just a single weekend, it is a 12-week event, and millions of people migrate towards it. The young people who travel here are very valuable to advertisers and text messaging is a very efficient way of targeting them.” British club operators such as Cream in Liverpool and London’s Ministry of Sound take up “residence” in Ibiza each summer, running lavish club nights hosted by top DJs and attracting up to 10E000 revellers a time.
This weekend is Radio One’s Ibiza 2000 weekend, when its DJs will broadcast live from the island. Chrysalis Group is spending 250E000 promoting its Galaxy Radio brand on the island. Rival dance radio station Kiss also has a presence, while media group Emap has set up its own radio station for the summer. Before Worldpop set up camp on the island this summer, the phrase “e-commerce” was more usually associated with the island’s burgeoning trade in the drug ecstasy. The Mobile Ibiza Text Messaging Service is gathering pace as the Spanish authorities crack down on paper flyers traditionally used to advertise club nights. Residents are angry at the litter they cause. Around 3E000 holidaymakers have signed up to the Mobile Ibiza service by registering at one of Worldpop’s three Internet cafs on the island. They receive two to four text messages a day, ostensibly from top DJ Pete Tong. The most popular offers are free club entries, the first few dozen clubbers to respond stand a good chance of getting in free that night, which is very useful given the high price of club entrances. “We were a little apprehensive when we first started the service because we weren’t certain if it would catch on,” says Simeon Berends, who creates the content for Worldpop and its technology partner, Mobile Channel Network. “But in the last few weeks it has gone ballistic. There are more than 3E000 clubbers on our database now and the messages are much more effective than flyers. You choose to take messages. And if it saves you 35 getting into a club it’s a service worth having.” As the next generation of cellphones is introduced and personalisation technology improves, Worldpop will be able to send better targeted messages, reflecting users’ music tastes and their whereabouts on the island, according to Berends. If one club is sold out and another half-empty, a message could offer half-price entry to anyone who turns up to the quieter club within the hour.
British software company Autonomy is even working on “dating technology”, which will allow a user to programme his or her cellphone with personal details (age, height, star sign, musical preferences) and their ideal partner. Autonomy software will send them a message, if someone matching that description is drinking elsewhere in the bar. Worldpop’s existing service, although a little rudimentary, is so popular that it will be used for the United Kingdom tours of pop band Steps and former Spice Girl Mel C this autumn. Advertisers on the Mobile Ibiza service use electronic text messages with other more traditional marketing techniques. Condom brand Durex is capitalising on Ibiza’s image as an island of sin, by having its “Freedom with Durex” blue double-decker bus driving around the island for three months. “We’re encouraging people to look after themselves and their partner, and take home nothing more serious than great holiday memories,” said Durex’s John Flaherty. Kodak also has billboard presence on the island and in British airports, while MTV recently put on an open-air concert for an estimated 10E000 people on the island. Record store HMV and nightclub group Ministry of Sound both publish free weekly Ibiza magazines focused on the music, lifestyle and drug culture. HMV says it has around 30 different Ibiza 2000 compilation CDs on sale. Consumer products group Unilever believes Ibiza is such an important bellwether of youth culture and emerging consumer trends that its “youth board” is being dispatched to the island in September on a fact- finding trip. The team, made up of 15 of the group’s “coolest” rising stars in their late 20s and early 30s, are sent to immerse themselves in youth culture and discover the latest on “style leaders”. They will report back to headquarters and ensure that the companies’ brands are targeted accordingly.
Unilever executives say it is an important exercise. Patrick Cairns, brand director for Lynx deodorants, part of Unilever subsidiary Elida Faberg, said: “It’s absolutely vital and gives us a real competitive edge. Culturally it has done a lot for the company, giving it a slightly funkier edge than you might otherwise expect from a large company like Unilever.” The youth board’s arrival in Ibiza coincides with Phoenix, a big Unilever- funded outdoor festival to promote the new Lynx scent Phoenix. A multimillion-pound pan-European promotion has been running for almost one year on the side of Lynx spray cans, and 2E500 competition winners from eight countries will be flown out to attend the event. “It is a very powerful way of promoting the Lynx brand,” Cairns explained. “It shows we understand our customers, highlights the kudos of the brand and enables us to further our understanding of youth culture.”
The influx of British business and revellers has not been without its problems. Locals complain about the noise and pollution. Drug use is widespread. Fights and stabbings are common in San Antonio, although tour companies say it is no different to any large British town on a weekend.
Two years ago, the British vice consul on the island quit in protest at the “degenerate” behaviour of British tourists. Ibiza is not the laid-back idyll that it was 13 years ago, when the first wide-eyed British DJs arrived on the island. The economy has enjoyed a boom, with low unemployment and high house prices, particularly for hilltop villas. The social price of economic growth has been significant, and is the subject of much local debate.